Franek Victorious in ESS Outlaw Fall Nationals
By Curtis Berleue (Dundee, NY) | For the fourth time in 2024, Davie Franek sat in Empire Super Sprints victory lane on Friday night. After leading just the final three laps, Franek was able to cash in and take home the big check in the Outlaw Fall Nationals at Outlaw Speedway.
Pinnacle Pole Sitter Matt Farnham and Shawn Donath brought the field to the green flag for the 25-lap affair, with Farnham taking the early lead over Donath, Matt Tanner and Davie Franek.
While Farnham and Donath had opened a sizeable gap over the rest of the field, fifth-starting Jason Barney quickly worked his way into the top three utilizing the extreme low side of the speedway. When the leaders reached lap traffic, however, Barney was able to close the gap and moved past Donath into second. Just two laps later, Barney continued his march forward and took the lead from Farnham.
A caution on lap 16 led to a hectic restart, as Donath got sideways between turns one and two. Somehow the driver of the #53 was able to avoid catastrophe and gathered it back together, only losing two spots in the process.
Another restart with just four laps to go again bunched up the field, and working the extreme high side of the Speedway, second running Davie Franek got by Barney with just three laps remaining and never looked back, adding another win at the Outlaw Speedway to his resume.
“There was a little thin curb up there,” said Franek in victory lane. “I really didn’t want to show him (Barney) my nose because I didn’t want him to move up.”
“On the restart there he knew I was on the outside and he kind of crowded me a little bit, but that’s what you gotta do. I had to match with him in the middle of three and four – I just hit the curb enough where I got a little drive, and the rest was history.”
Coming home second was Donath, who recovered well from his mid-race setback.
“On that restart I thought Jason was going to slide across and try to pinch me on the top there, and he didn’t move up and I had nowhere to go,” said Donath. “We were able to recover, the track was super racey and we were pretty good wherever we went.”
After leading 10 laps, Jason Barney rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
“Thankful to be down here, the racetrack was good, we had good track position,” said Barney. “Early in the race, the bottom was good and really no one was there. I thought we had enough racecar to win but obviously we didn’t.”
“When you’re leading you don’t really know what to do, where to go. He (Franek) did a good job. That one stings a little bit but happy to be third.”
The field was split into three timed hot lap groups to start the night, with Matt Tanner, Jared Zimbardi and Davie Franek earning Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards in their respective groups. E&V Energy heat wins went to Jordan Poirier, Jason Barney and Matt Farnham, while the Cobra Coaches Dash presented by Fratto Curbing was won by Jeff Halligan.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Friday October 4th at the Fulton Speedway in Fulton, NY as part of the annual Outlaw 200 weekend. For the latest news, information, and schedule updates regarding the Empire Super Sprints be sure to check the series website (www.EmpireSuperSprints.com) and follow along on Facebook (Empire Super Sprints), X (formerly Twitter – @ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, PJC Spray Foam, Hoosier Racing Tire, Cobra Coaches, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Fondations 4 Saisons, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Lacaillade Masonry, Inc., FX Caprara, ASI Racewear, Lanes Yamaha, Ashley Lynn Winery, Bicknell Racing Products, DirtTrackDigest.com and LC Design.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Friday, October 4 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win Outlaw 200 Weekend)
Friday, October 18 – Outlaw Speedway – Dundee, NY ($4,000 to Win Hoag Memorial)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[6]; 2. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 3. 87-Jason Barney[4]; 4. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[5]; 5. 28-Jordan Poirier[7]; 6. 22-Jonathan Preston[8]; 7. #7NY-Matt Farnham[1]; 8. 36-Logan Crisafulli[9]; 9. #79-Jordan Thomas[12]; 10. 47-Kyle Drum[17]; 11. 35-Jared Zimbardi[11]; 12. 90-Matt Tanner[3]; 13. 4P-Chase Moran[14]; 14. 2-Dave Axton[16]; 15. 13T-Trevor Years[21]; 16. 13E-Evan Reynolds[18]; 17. X-Dan Bennett[15]; 18. #5-DJ Christie[22]; 19. 21-Will Glover[19]; 20. #18C-Dan Craun[20]; 21. #32-Kyle Smith[10]; 22. 63-Jeff Halligan[13]
Fratto Curbing Dash: 1. 63-Jeff Halligan[2]; 2. 4P-Chase Moran[1]; 3. X-Dan Bennett[4]; 4. 2-Dave Axton[5]; 5. 47-Kyle Drum[3]; 6. 13E-Evan Reynolds[6]
E&V Energy Heat 1: 1. 28-Jordan Poirier[2]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner[1]; 3. 53-Shawn Donath[4]; 4. #79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 5. 4P-Chase Moran[5]; 6. X-Dan Bennett[7]; 7. #18C-Dan Craun[6]; 8. (DNS) #5-DJ Christie
E&V Energy Heat 2: 1. 87-Jason Barney[2]; 2. 35-Jared Zimbardi[1]; 3. 22-Jonathan Preston[5]; 4. 36-Logan Crisafulli[4]; 5. 63-Jeff Halligan[3]; 6. 2-Dave Axton[6]; 7. 13T-Trevor Years[7]
E&V Energy Heat 3: 1. 28F-Davie Franek[1]; 2. #7NY-Matt Farnham[3]; 3. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[4]; 4. #32-Kyle Smith[2]; 5. 47-Kyle Drum[5]; 6. 13E-Evan Reynolds[6]; 7. 21-Will Glover[7]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #90-Matt Tanner; #35-Jared Zimbardi; #28F-Davie Franek
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #28-Jordan Poirier; #87-Jason Barney; #7NY-Matt Farnham
Cobra Coaches / Fratto Curbing Dash Winner ($125): #63-Jeff Halligan
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #7NY-Matt Farnham
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #47-Kyle Drum (+7)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #X-Dan Bennett
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #35-Jared Zimbardi
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #28F-Davie Franek; #53-Shawn Donath; #87-Jason Barney
